As their fatigue got the better of them, the trio went back to sleep, trying to get some well-deserved shut-eye before the next morning came, to no avail that is. As soon as they lay their heads, the glamorous rays of dawn shone brilliantly from the horizon.

As the gleam of sunshine barged into the wagon—illuminating the interior—the trio was woken up from their brief nap. The grumpy Dolisia covered her head with a blanket, the nonchalant Mik was careless, and the somber Joel muttered in displeasure.

"...For fuck's sake."

"...jufimomin..." Dolisia muttered incoherently under her growl.

"Huh?" Joel uttered in response, "What did you say?"

"Jus fine ore mins."

"Juice?"

"Five more minutes! Just five more minutes!" Dolisia replied, irritated.

"You said that ten minutes ago. Just wake up already, we need to get going."

"Oh, piss off, Joel! How are you even awake now?"

"Because it's already the morning, Dolisia. Now just wake up already, we need to get moving to Hilltop before it's dark again."

"Ugh, fine." She said as she threw the blanket away and sat up, "Pass me the wine."

"The what now?"

"Pass me the wine, goddammit!"

"Alright, alright. Fine" Joel said as he reached for a wine bottle in one of the crates, passing it to Dolisia.

Upon grabbing hold of the bottle, Dolisia popped open the cork before chugging down the entire bottle. She wiped the leaking beverage from the corners of her mouth before tossing the glass bottle out of the wagon.

"Who the hell chugs an entire wine bottle in the morning?" Joel wondered in confusion.

"The same type that has to put up with your guys' shit. Speaking of, where's Mik?"

In response, Joel pointed down in front of Dolisia. As she turned around, her eyes were met with the sight of Mik laying down on the wooden floor of the wagon, sound asleep with no disruption whatsoever.

"How the hell can he sleep so easily after that?"

"Ex-military, he can pretty much sleep however he wants, whenever he wants."

"Tch, lucky bastard." Dolisia said, "Hey, wake up the hell up!"

Dolisia then proceeded to kick the latter out of his slumber. As he jolted up in response—stunned and perplexed—Mik blurted out:

"Ah, what?! The world ended?!"

"Your nap ended, now wake up," Dolisia replied, making her way out of the wagon. "We need to get going to the town. That old bastard isn't going to take us there anymore."

"Wait, what? Why?!" Mik questioned, genuinely confused and upset.

"Bro, are you kidding me?" Joel said, "He literally dipped on us, remember?"

"Oh...oh right, yeah." Mik said, "Buuuuut, now we have the entire wagon for ourselves. We can go wherever we want now!"

"Wow, what a genius thought!" Dolisia said as she hopped off the wagon, "With a wagon out of nowhere to a town where the merchant was expected? With a bunch of what will become stolen goods?"

"Oh yeah? Well, how will they know?" Mik asked, a smug smile plastered on his face.

"Even if they don't, we can't just take it. Our criminal record is already VERY frowned upon. Any more shit and we'll basically be pouring fuel on the fire."

"I agree, we should now try to minimize the damage as much as possible, and hopefully set our record clear at some point...probably." Joel affirmed.

"Fine...fine. But next time, we'll take the wagon."

"Hopefully there won't be any next time." Joel said.

As Dolisia was standing idly, Mik and Joel hopped out of the wagon, calmly brushing the dust off of their clothes before Dolisia roared in rage.

"There you are!"

Before they could even process the situation, the duo saw Dolisia dashing behind the wagon and out of sight. As they followed after her, their eyes fell upon the sight of an awfully familiar old man carrying a brown sack—Of course, none other than Alan.

"Good mo-Woah!" Alan greeted before Dolisia lunged at him, only for the former to dodge at the last second.

As Dolisia face-planted on the soil, the duo ran towards the old man, ready to confront him.

"What's the matter, lads? Had a rough night, eh?" Alan questioned.

"A rough night?!" Mik exclaimed, "You fucking abandoned us when the bandits attacked!"

"Oi, seriously? You were attacked by bandits?"

"Yeah! So where the hell were you?" Joel antagonized.

"I've picked up some apples from the trees nearby for ya lads. Thought you could use a good breakfast."

"Oh really? Then why didn't you say anything when you left?" Dolisia asked, still laying in the ground.

"A bit rude for me to wake you up from your sleep, no? Plus, you've dealt with the bandits rather quickly, did you use the bow and arrow I left to defend yourselves?"

"The what now?" Joel questioned.

For a brief moment, every brain cell that the four had ceased functioning. The trio was taken aback by Alan's statement, while the latter was staring at them with a narrow-eyed and very confused expression.

"Wait…lads, how did you know that I was gone?" Alan questioned.

"Because….we checked under the wagon?" Joel replied in confusion.

"So…you surely saw the bow and arrow that I left for you there, no?" Alan asked again.

The trio was silent. They couldn't believe it, and they refused to believe what Alan just said. However, Joel couldn't help but check under the wagon to see if Alan's story matches up. As much as he hoped it was true, he also hoped that it wasn't.

"Just know that I don't believe you." Joel said as he made his way towards the wagon.

The boy then knelt down in front of the wagon before peeking under it. Much to Mik and Dolisia's confusion, Joel was peeking for a bit too long, as if he was frozen in place.

"Joel?" Dolisia called out.

Joel sat on the ground, hands clasped in front of his face. He didn't want to believe, he refused to believe, but he couldn't help but believe. And thus, a wave of immeasurable disappointment washed over him as he sat there contemplating his life choices.

"Don't tell me…" Dolisia murmured, disappointed.

Joel could only nod in response. To which Dolisia turned towards Mik, a blank expression plastered on her face. She wasn't angry, disappointed, sad, or any of the sorts. She was only staring, staring at Mik who was sweating.

"Um…" Mik uttered.

"You're Ex-military…you sensed the bandits coming from far away…and you couldn't spot a fucking bow and arrow laying on the ground?" Dolisia questioned.

"…I mean…it was dark?"

Upon hearing his reply, Dolisia stepped towards Joel before she sat next to him, hands clasped in front of her face in disappointment and frustration. As much as she wanted to punch the red-haired boy, she couldn't keep up with him anymore. She simply gave up.

Meanwhile, Alan was confused beyond all explanation and expression. Although he saw the confrontation unfold from start to finish, he thought that the red-haired boy simply didn't want to pick up the weapon, not be completely ignorant of its existence.

'…Did I overestimate these kids? …Did I make a mistake? …Did they just waste my damn wine barrel for nothing?' Alan thought to himself.

The previous excitement that Alan had when he saw the trio had fluctuated to near-nothingness, for his disappointment and utter shock at their hilariously dumb decisions was nothing short of a gut punch to his expectations.

'Yeah…no, I'm definitely not going to offer them to join the luminaries any time soon.'

…

After a rather short trip with the wagon, Alan and the trio finally reached the town of Hilltop. The town—in comparison to the previous one the trio has been in—was smaller but far livelier, not to mention the market that occupied the middle of the town.

Alan drove through the town until he reached the biggest building in town. 'Town Hall' the sign at the front entrance read, as people and merchants alike crowded the building, each with their objective.

"And there we go! You lads can hop off now, we've arrived." Alan stated.

"Huh? Wait, where are we?" Dolisia questioned.

"Hilltop, my dear. We've already arrived." Alan replied.

Joel, Mik, and Dolisia hopped off the wagon in unison. They looked around them, observing the town, and the town hall that they stood in front of. Although they were glad that they finally reached civilization, they couldn't be too optimistic—for their experience with towns isn't the best per se.

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"Alright then, I guess this will be farewell for now." Alan stated.

"Oh, you're leaving, Alan?" Dolisia asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. I still have quite the trip to make. You see, my destination is actually Cherryfield, quite a far town it is." Alan explained, "I could've taken a shortcut, but I couldn't help but give ya a ride lads."

Alan then extended his hand toward Dolisia for a handshake. With no hesitation, the latter shook his hand with a smile plastered on her face.

"Thank you, Alan. We appreciate the help you gave us."

"Ah, no worries." Alan replied, "Oh, before I go."

Alan then reached for his back pocket, shuffling through it before he fetched a golden coin, which he handed to Dolisia.

"And, what is this?" Dolisia asked.

"It's a hundred Coe. You see, applying for a job in the town hall can be a bit of a long process unless you pay for it if you know what I mean." Alan stated with a wink.

"Wouldn't that be…illegal?" Joel questioned.

"Haha, Of course not! There's a great difference between crime and a simple tip in life, as long as you don't get caught." Alan said as he held onto the reins of the wagon, "Anyways, I hope we could all meet on a better occasion. All the best to ya lads!"

With a simple wave and a friendly smile, Alan rode away from the trio and out of sight, leaving them alone to explore the town of Hilltop. Although, the trio knew there wasn't much exploration to be done, for they had one goal at the moment.

"So…we all agree that we need to get money, right?" Dolisa asked.

"Yep." Joel replied.

"Uh-uh." Mik Followed.

"And the best way is to get a job right now, no objections?"

"Reasonable enough."

"Uh-uh."

"Right…" Dolisia said, "Let's get started."

The trio made their way inside the town hall, their sights set on finding a job as soon as possible to aid them in their journey.

They stepped into the town hall, mesmerized by the size of the interior, and how crowded it was. Villagers and merchants alike were either standing idly, tending to their businesses, or lined up in front of the many desks that were stationed in the building.

As they observed their surroundings, the trio's eyes fell upon their goal, the employment desk. And much to their convenience, the desk was occupied by a rather small line.

Upon getting in line, the trio waited for an hour and a half before they got their turn to speak to the desk attendant—who was a young woman wearing a loose white linen shirt and a pair of black gloves. Ocasscionaly twirling strands of her short brown hair that complemented her brown eyes. She lay her head on her hands, fighting the urge to fall unconscious due to the sleep deprivation that was visible in her eyes.

"Next." She spoke in a monotone voice.

"Ahem," Dolisia took the stand, "Hello and good morning, we're looking fo—"

"A job, I know. You have a work permit?" She asked.

"A what now?" Dolisia questioned, perplexed.

"…You don't have a work permit?"

"Um…no?"

"God…" The attendant whispered before replying in a monotone, robotic demeanor. "You can acquire a work permit if you go to the desk at the right of the entrance and fill a simple one-page form and pay a one Coe fee. Do you have an identification or authentication document?"

"…" Dolisia stood silently, "Um…can you just give us a job, please?"

Meanwhile, Mik and Joel were watching from the sidelines, their trauma triggered due to how similar their current situation was to their previous situation, prior to their death.

"Hey, Joel." Mik said as he leaned towards the latter, "This is awfully similar to our world, no?"

"Yep…we're screwed, we're very fucking screwed."

In the meantime, Dolisia was negotiating a job offer, or at least that's what she thought she was doing.

"Miss, you don't understand. We really, really need this! I will do anything for you, just please give us a job." Dolisia pleaded.

"Again, no. I can't, I won't, and I can't afford to do that. You need at least a work permit, or identification to get a job. Otherwise, I can do nothing for you, okay? So please, just stop negotiating."

"Well, how can I acquire identification?" Dolisia asked.

"…Do you have anything? A birth certificate, an authentication document, anything that proves that you're actually a person?"

"Yeah, I have what proves that I'm a person. Me! I exist, isn't that enough?"

"It's the law! It says that you need a proper document, can you blame me?"

"Yeah, I can! Can you not like, give me a work permit without identification? Why is it so hard for you to do that?!"

"Ma'am, I'm just doing my job. They pay me a horrible salary, I barely get enough sleep, I'm just trying to make ends meet."

"Okay, okay." Joel said, taking the stand. "Alright, how about this. If you search for a job, we'll buy you a drink. Sounds fair?"

The attendant, unimpressed at such a low effort, could only gaze in disappointment at the trio. She then stood up, turning around before walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Dolisia called out.

"Lunch break. I'm not going to waste my favorite time of the day on you three."

"And what about us?" Joel questioned.

"Oh yeah, if I recall correctly…" She said as she reached for her pocket watch, squinting as she checked the time. "Yep, it's time for you three to leave me alone."

"What the hell?! And what are our options? What are we supposed to do?" Dolisia retaliated.

"Your options are—" The attendant said before slamming her desk, pointing behind the three. "The door!"

"And your options are, go fuck yourself!" Dolisia replied.

"Oh, well excuse me! At least I have a legal document that got me this damn job!"

"Yeah? Well, at least we aren't slaves to a job!" Dolisia retorted.

"I have no choice! I didn't ask to be born and I'm just surviving through life, can you blame me?!" The attendant shouted. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lunch break to eat and cry in!"

As the attendant was furiously walking away, she was greeted by one of her coworkers.

"Hey, Elaine."

"Oh, hi Mark."

"Rough morning, no?"

"Yeah, the usual."

"Ah, it's alright. You can cheer up, I heard they have lamb shanks."

"Oh, sounds delicious. How much is it?"

"Three Coe, you got it?"

"Yeah, just give me a second." The attendant said as she shuffled through her pocket. Much to her dismay, she didn't carry with her enough Coe for a lunch. "Um…Mark, do you have three Coe to spare?"

"Oh…um, I actually…borrowed mine."

Elaine stood silently, her head gazing down in disappointment and frustration. Not a word was said, she turned back and made her way towards the desk. She then sat down at her desk, taking a deep breath before she slammed her fists on it.

"GODDAMMIT!"

"LANGUAGE!" A voice yelled at her from the other room, presumably her superior.

"…Sorry…" She whispered.

Defeated, Elaine rested her head on her arms, whispering incoherent mumbles. Meanwhile, the trio was gazing at the attendant with smug smirks plastered on their faces. Joel turned towards Dolisia before asking.

"Dolisia, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Oh…I definitely am."

"Mik, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Joel asked.

"Oh, you bet!" Mik replied, "We're forging a work permit!"

"What?! No!"

"We're not?" Dolisia asked, perplexed.

"What? What the hell are you guys thinking?! No, we're not forging a document." Joel replied, a smug smile plastered on his face. "That's too much hard work, we're gonna bribe her to forge us some documents."

"Oooh, I like the way you're thinking," Dolisia replied.

"But what are we bribing her with?" Mik questioned.

"Dolisia, you still got what Alan gave you?"

"Huh?" She blurted out as she wound her memory back, "Oh, oh! The coin!"

She reached for her pocket, pulling out the golden coin that Alan gave her before he departed.

"Alright, I don't exactly know how much this currency is. But depending on the price of the meal and that permit fee or whatever, I'll assume it's value is similar to the US dollar. If that's correct, then a hundred Coe is enough for us to buy her services, for good."

"So it's Jackpot?" Mik asked.

"Damn bet." Joel replied, "Now I just need to persuade her."

...

"What? I'm a little busy as you can see."

Elaine looked up at Joel, snot oozing from her nostrils as tears trickled down her puffy red eyes. She then wiped her nose before replying:

"Can you three just please leave me alone already? This is about the only time I have of my day where I eat lunch and cry, and as you can tell, I'll have to settle with just crying for today."

"Well, how about we change that?" Joel stated.

Joel flipped the coin close enough, and high enough for the teary-eyed girl to observe. And upon recognizing the golden color, her eyes shot up in surprise.

"Is…is that—"

"One hundred Coe, all yours."

"GIMME!"

Elaine lunged toward the coin like a rabid animal, leaping over the desk before slamming onto the ground. Luckily, the coin was still with Joel.

"Nu-uh. If you want the coin, then you'll have to give something back in favor."

"Please, you have no idea just how much I need that Coe. I'll even be your stagecoach horse replacement, just please give me the Coe!"

"Bingo! So you need the Coe, while we need a certain service. I think we have a mutual agreement. And by that, I'll take it that you're willing to provide said service for the Coe, no?" Joel explained.

"Yes, anything, I'll do anything! Just please, give me the hundred Coe."

"Well…if that's how it is," Joel said as he glanced at Mik and Dolisia, a smug smile plastered on his face as the others gave him a thumbs up. "I need three work permits and three identification documents. Preferably, today."

"…That's it? Then why the hell didn't you guys say so from the beginning!"

Elaine jumped back behind her desk before shuffling through the drawers, pulling out three papers and a pen. After which, she adjusted her attire before she sat at her desk.

"All you need to do now is just fill in the forms with the needed information, then you can freely choose any of the available jobs hung on the bulletin board near the entrance," Elaine explained.

"Woah, that was easy!" Mik exclaimed.

"Sure was." Joel replied, "But, what about the identification papers?"

"Oh, easy peasy. I can arrange them tomorrow with all the needed information. However…"

"However?" The trio questioned.

"However, you three need to have a registered family member living here, or at least to have lived here for at least three months. Regardless, I could arrange your identification papers with a background from Leefside since no one cares about that dump, it'll take a day tops. All good?"

"Sounds good, I have no complaints," Dolisia replied.

"So…can I now get my reward?" Elaine coaxed.

"Well, a deal's a deal. The hundred Coe is yours." Joel said as he handed the coin to the latter.

"Wohoooo!" Elaine jolted up in ecstatic joy before sprinting towards the buffet. "Save me some of that lamb sauce, suckers!"

"Well, I'm glad that some tricks never get old." Joel said.

"Just like us when we died," Mik whispered.

"No, no dark humor jokes right now."

"Why? That was a good one though—"

"Mik, I swear to God, we're barely able to tolerate your shit after that unforgivable fuck up yesterday, just don't make it worse for yourself."

"Alright, fine. I'm not going to…" Mik said before he whispered, "Joy killers."

"Oh shut the fuck up," Joel sighed in frustration, "Let's just fill out the forms already and get going."

The three took turns handing the pen, each filling his work permit with the necessary information, which was: The name, age, sex, and duration. It was a quick and easy process that the trio finished quickly, leaving them with only one objective now.

The trio then made their way towards the bulletin board near the entrance, their eyes falling upon the sight of the many job offers that were hung on the board. However, as they observed the job offers closely, they were rather taken aback by how grisly the nature of said jobs was.

"Leech collector?" Dolisia questioned.

"Rat-catcher?" Joel exclaimed.

"Sin eater?" Mik wondered.

"Who the hell posted these jobs?" Dolisia uttered in confusion as she searched through more jobs, only to stumble upon a very 'blunt' one. "…a whore…wow, even the description just says 'whore'."

"You gotta give them points for honesty, alright." Joel said, "Oh, here's an interesting one."

In response, Mik and Dolisa directed their gazes at the job offer that Joel was pointing at. Confused, they read out the title.

"Gong farmer?"

"Well, I've never worked in farming, but I presume it'll be a very profitable one, no?" Joel said, "But what is gong though?"

"Read the description." Mik suggested.

"Right. Ahem, work in the night, remove…remove human excrement from cesspits?"

"…So, you just clean up shit?" Dolisia wondered, "I mean…how much does it pay?"

"One hundred and fifty Coe per ton of waste removed."

"So…" Mik said, "A metric shit-ton. You have to shovel a metric shit-ton."

"A literal metric shit-ton," Joel asserted. "Yeah, no. There's no way in hell I'm cleaning shit at night for a hundred and fifty. I'd rather be a sin-eater."

"With you on that one." Dolisia stated, "Oh, here's a good one. 'Library assistant', forty Coe per day? Sounds nice."

"Oh, library?" Joel wondered, "Sounds like a perfect job for me, I'll take it."

Joel said as he ripped the paper out of the board, leaving only Mik and Dolisia in need of a job.

"Oh, oh. This sounds kinda good." Mik interrupted, "Errand boy, thirty-five Coe per day. Fairly simple and easy, I'll take it."

As Mik ripped the paper from the board, only Dolisia was left jobless.

"Alright, let's see…" Dolisia mumbled, "Construction work, two-hundred Coe per day?!? CHA-CHING! Here comes the money, suckers! And I'll gladly take it!" Dolisia said before ripping the paper from the board.

"Alright, the three of us are now successfully employed." Joel stated, "All that's left right now is to get going to our jobs already and try to start making money."

"Sounds good, when do we meet again?" Mik asked.

"At night? Around sunset, same place." Dolisia suggested.

"Yep, right here, around sunset." Joel confirmed, "Alright then, time to get going!"

"See ya!" Mik waved.

"Take care!" Dolisia followed.

As they successfully acquired a job for each—and decent-paying ones at that—the trio wasted not but a second as they departed for their jobs, at ease now that one step to save the world is completed.

However, unbeknownst to them, the jobs to which they departed towards were not as pleasurable as they seemed to be at first. One could even say that they were as bad as the others in a sense.

Moreover, many difficulties awaited the trio other than their jobs. And the most important of them, which they forgot to think about is…

Where are they going to spend the night?